Joan Of Leeds set for festive premiere

Breach Theatre will return to New Diorama theatre this festive season with their first ever Christmas show - Joan of Leeds - scheduled for a world premiere run from 3 to 21 December 2019.

The show is based on a fascinating and scandalous true story based in a 14th Century Yorkshire convent.

In this cloistered location Sister Joan is blessed with unholy visions which, together with ensuing actions - cause a scandal in the order.

However, Joan is determined to spread her new carnal creed ... even if it means getting a touch creative.

Joan of Leeds promises to add a raucously funny seasonal twist to Breach's signature combination of incisive storytelling, theatrical invention and the deployment of history to comment on contemporary society.

The show borrows its structure from the early medieval Mystery Plays, which mixed verse and choral music to tell stories from the bible, but Breach have modernised the ancient genre with a sharp contemporary reinvention, mixing verse and dialogue with a psychedelic 70s aesthetic and folk-rock soundtrack, feminist undertones, uproarious humour and a healthy does of festive spirit.

Joan of Leeds is co-written by Breach's Billy Barrett and Ellice Stevens, with music by James Frewer - whose credits include Middle Child Theatre's mega hits All We Ever Wanted Was Everything and The Canary and the Crow.

The cast includes Rachel Barnes and Laurie Jamieson, both of whom also starred as actor-musicians in The Canary and the Crow at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, alongside Bryony Davies (Macbeth, Royal Exchange, A Girl In School Uniform (Walks Into A Bar), New Diorama), Olivia Hirst (Artistic Director of LostWatch Theatre, star of Secret Life of Humans, and co-writer and star of The Incident Room - both New Diorama Theatre) and Alex Roberts (The Wardrobe Ensemble's Rocky Shock).

Breach Theatre is an associate ensemble at New Diorama.

The company's previous plays include The Beanfield, Fringe First winner Tank, and Fringe First, The Stage and Untapped Award winner It's True It's True It's True which restaged the 1612 trial surrounding the rape of artist Artemisia Gentileschi and will transfer to The Barbican's Pit in spring 2020.

Show listing information